rebuild or replace steering rack

[lord rigatoni]

whats up everyone hope all is well, the power steering rack on my 3rd gen has a pretty nasty leak. one of the end seals has failed because when I pull back the boot atf just pours to the floor. my question is for anyone who has attempted to rebuild one of these racks, was it worth rebuilding the rack or would you have rather just replaced the whole rack?

time is money though so if a rebuild is a less viable option than just replacing the rack then i may just bite the bullet and pay the $530 for a new rack from Toyota. but please let me know what worked for you guys as far as the rebuild route or the replacement route. thanks yall

 

[3bears]

i have read good and bad about rebuilding your own rack. have heard more bad than good on racks from aftermarket guys like autozone, o rielleys evan napa.
there is a guy named joe joe...that sells factroy toyota stuff ....and sometimes cheaper than aftermarket.

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his link looks weird...but if you look him up on the search on this forum and facebook 3rd gen mafia you will see his is very legit

 

[alexperrucci]

Was just talking to a buddy today about this. He just rebuilt his and said "miserable doesn't begin to describe it" lol I'll just replace mine when the time comes.

 

[Bad Luck]

It’s well worth the money to not rebuild the steering rack in my opinion. There’s a lot more than just throwing some new seals and inner tie rods in.

 

[spartacus]

Here is a good video for a Lexus 300. The Russian guy does a fantastic job, makes it look easy.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NRdLsdymNP0" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[mtbtim]

Here is a good video for a Lexus 300. The Russian guy does a fantastic job, makes it look easy.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NRdLsdymNP0" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I agree this guy did an excellent job showing how to rebuild a steering rack. I didn't watch the whole thing but I watched enough to see how well he was documenting everything.

The big question is, how much are you really saving doing the rebuild all on your own? After you get done buying the gasket/bearing kit, bushings, boots, inner tie rods, you've probably spent as much as a rebuilt one from Toyota. You don't necessarily have to replace inner tie rods, boots or bushings, but all those things do come with a new steering rack from Toyota. Those inner tie rods alone are around $300. A whole new rack that comes with new inner tie rods is around $530.

I'm all about DIY repairs but this one, in my opinion, isn't worth doing unless you're just trying to stop a bad leak and are just going to buy the seal/bearing kit. I did a quick search and you can find them as low as $80 on Ebay. If you can wait for an Amayama shipment, it could be even more affordable.

OP, my vote is to just replace the whole thing. This video will help you with the swap.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wZoRP5ogrK0" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>




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[spartacus]

I agree this guy did an excellent job showing how to rebuild a steering rack. I didn't watch the whole thing but I watched enough to see how well he was documenting everything.

The big question is, how much are you really saving doing the rebuild all on your own? After you get done buying the gasket/bearing kit, bushings, boots, inner tie rods, you've probably spent as much as a rebuilt one from Toyota. You don't necessarily have to replace inner tie rods, boots or bushings, but all those things do come with a new steering rack from Toyota. Those inner tie rods alone are around $300. A whole new rack that comes with new inner tie rods is around $530.

I'm all about DIY repairs but this one, in my opinion, isn't worth doing unless you're just trying to stop a bad leak and are just going to buy the seal/bearing kit. I did a quick search and you can find them as low as $80 on Ebay. If you can wait for an Amayama shipment, it could be even more affordable.

OP, my vote is to just replace the whole thing. This video will help you with the swap.

The oem itre,'s last a long time. Most instances it's the seals that are leaking. Reusing the old itre's and boots. Replacing the seals and bearings, bushings could be a cost effective way of fixing the leak.

 

[Bad Luck]

The oem itre,'s last a long time. Most instances it's the seals that are leaking. Reusing the old itre's and boots. Replacing the seals and bearings, bushings could be a cost effective way of fixing the leak.

I always end up having to replace the inner tie rods due to the leak washing out the grease in the inner tie rod joint.

 

[spartacus]

I always end up having to replace the inner tie rods due to the leak washing out the grease in the inner tie rod joint.

Packing it with Lithium NLGI #2, GC-LB won't work?

 

[TheSaturnV]

Sometimes you can do just fine with a place like Autozone. Due to an extremely unfortunate fall off the floor jack I had to replace the rack in my wife's Range Rover Sport. Because Land Rover parts are so nuts, I went the Autozone route.

Unboxed it and it was a refurbished rack with Land Rover stamped all over it. Was exactly the same part I took off and 5 years on is working perfectly.

 

[gamefreakgc]

I was in this same position and I replaced the rack, almost solely because I needed to replace the inner tie rods and like Timmy mentioned, they are very expensive and come as part of a new Toyota steering rack. That alone decided it for me. New rack is rock solid years later and I don't ever have to worry about it again.

 

[Bad Luck]

Packing it with Lithium NLGI #2, GC-LB won't work?

People always wait until the grease has been long gone and the joint has worn down. Once you factor in the extra labor cost to rebuild a rack most customers go with a remanufactured or new rack with a warranty.

 

[caspermike]

decided to replace mine with a ToyoDa (interesting backstory about that if you don't know). No issues since.